Life and Times of a Modern Magnolia

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Secrets of an Anonymous Tweeter

After yesterday’s post on 32 Things That Makes Me Happy, I found a little inspiration to share something most people do not know about me: I was an antonymous tweeter. I’m sure that many of you follow a parody account or another an anonymous user that’s relatable to your life, but do you really understand the grunt work behind running that type of account? Well, I can honestly say that I do and it was one of the most emotionally draining things I have ever done.

It began when my boyfriend joined the Army. None of my friends or family could possibly understand what I was going through when my love of five years was shipped out to boot camp. I searched and searched for a way to connect with other girls who I could share my experience with, and oddly enough I found it on Twitter. Using the hashtags #milso and #milsoproblems, I opened doors to a whole new world that many of you probably have no idea exists. After connecting and forming friendships with other military significant others (MilSOs), I decided it was high time I create my own anonymous Twitter account.

After months creating my account and gaining well-over 1,000 followers I became a support system for other girls new to the military lifestyle. Each morning I would design inspirational tweets. Throughout the day I’d share my own battles with finding strengthen in being away from my significant other. Each night I would end the day with hope that tomorrow is a new start and they were one day closer to seeing their love. All the while, I would constantly respond to messages that flooded my inbox to help other girls get through the worst part of a long distance relationship – the first few months.

Maybe it’s just me, but I loved every minute of knowing that I was helping another person overcome the trials and tribulations of military relationships. I had no idea how time consuming and draining it could be – it takes a truly special person to be an anonymous tweeter. Being a full time college student and working part time put ended up putting my Twitter account on the back burner. From tweeting all day to sporadically, I felt like I was doing a disservice to the MilSO world. And then one day during my final weeks of my Senior year of collage and after months of running my account, I just stopped. I found that my own emotions were running high each time I logged on and I couldn’t find the time to continue.

If you are thinking of or are currently running an anonymous Twitter account, please know what you are in for and how much your followers depend on you. Depending on the content of your account, you can mean so much to so many people even though they have no idea who you truly are. Sometimes, connecting with a stranger helps people reveal their real thoughts and feelings of their current situation.